Defence spending row as chiefs spend £730 million on taxis, hotels and meals

The row over defence spending on vehicles for troops on the frontline has been
reignited after it was disclosed the MoD spent £730 million on meals, hotels
and taxis for civil servants in a 12-month period.

By Nick Allen

1:28PM BST 30 Jun 2008

It is more than twice as much as was spent on vehicles for servicemen and women in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The figures emerged two weeks after Cpl Sarah Bryant and three members of the SAS were killed when their lightly protected Snatch Land Rover was destroyed by a landmine in Afghanistan.

The Snatch Land Rover was brought into service in the 1970s for those serving in Northern Ireland but critics say the vehicles do not offer enough protection for troops in Afghanistan and should be replaced.

Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon, 19, died when his Snatch Land Rover was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2004, said: "It's a national disgrace that soldiers are forced to patrol in these totally inadequate vehicles - but clearly giving a soldier the right equipment is less important than officials' comfort."

Expenses for civil servants included first class train seats, business class flights and wine with meals.